Our union, our movement
cupe and the canadian labour movement
and also political action, and social movements
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political action:
The word “political” in the term “political action” may tend to scare some of us off. It conjures up images of political parties, elections, and distant processes over which we may feel we have little control. Political action, however, is not just big “P” politicking – in fact, it’s not even mainly that. Political action for unions means making our voices heard and there are many practical, direct, and even fun ways in which we can do that.
We must take into account that we can’t achieve everything we want at the bargaining table. Sometimes we can’t bring enough pressure to bear on our employers to achieve our goals. Sometimes we find that we receive little public support or understanding when we face a crisis, such as during a strike. Sometimes we face problems that are just too big for one local to handle alone.
Just think for a moment about how the following scenarios might affect you and the other members of your local:
- Your employer decides to contract-out half of the work of your bargaining unit.
- The government and business groups create a bad public image for your local by blaming economic problems on “greedy public sector unions”.
- The government passes a law freezing your wages for two years.
These events would certainly hurt you, either directly or indirectly. And these are precisely the kinds of problems being faced by CUPE members right now. To deal with these problems, you may have to look beyond your workplace.
Union political action can include anything from a quiet talk with a decision-maker to a full-blown public campaign. Political action might be publishing a leaflet, circulating a petition, helping a political candidate get elected, or simply talking to a neighbour or a member of your union about an issue. What you do depends on what you are trying to achieve. You may be trying to educate your members about an important issue or trying to build public support for your local’s bargaining position or trying to put pressure on the employer through public opinion. Whatever your aim, the action you take will be designed to make the best use of your available resources to move towards your goal.